A large female Humpback was tail slapping today and although spectacular to watch the reason behind her behaviour was not naturally caused. Unfortunately, amateur vessels had been approaching her too closely and at speed which upset the female who had a young calf. Her natural response was to deter what she felt was a threat to her calf, but not all humans understand The Language of The Whales™ and that is why educating as many people as we can on how to correctly interact with these incredible creatures is vitally important. Our Humpbacks whales are at a very vulnerable stage of their migration with depleted energy/blubber reserves after a cold and long winter, their resting grounds are paramount to the success of the adults and calves completing their migration.
We will have more to come later this week on the correct way to approach and interact with whales, below is a diagram that you can share with family and friends. Please apply the below to respect our whales during this important time.
Many other mother and calf pods were sighted today resting before continuing their journey with one escort pod also sighted. The young calf in this pod seemed to be enjoying the company of the escort male and also took a cheeky look at us as he surfaced close to our port side? A beautifully warm day to be out on the Indian Ocean and wishing a very happy birthday and happy anniversary to some of our guests onboard today!
-Whale Watch Western Australia
This story was adapted from a blog post, read the original here
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